The US Strava Ride with the Most Kudos for 2017 Is Not What You’d Expect

If you’re looking for more kudos on your next Strava ride, take some notes from Erik Binggeser—or TrueMarmalade, as he’s known on Strava. Here’s how Binggeser titled the 33-mile jaunt he took on February 17: “Saturday. New record for slowest average speed? Pokémon and beer and so much wheelie practice. Hands are wrecked. Ed.”

Strava’s latest annual report shows that this humble quest for Pokémon, beer, and wheelies racked up a whopping 6,936 thumbs ups—and the title of 2017’s most “kudo-ed” ride in the US. We caught up with the Austin-based designer and Instagram cycling superstar to find out how he ended up Strava-famous, how to catch ’em all, and how to make your cycling Instagram and Strava page stand out.

First of all, congrats! Are your normal rides heavily kudo-ed, or was this an anomaly?

Erik Binggeser: I started using the app regularly to track my bike riding when I moved to Austin in 2013. Most of the rides I posted in February 2017 seem to have been kudo-ed quite heavily compared to any of my activities since then and any that I posted prior. Thanks to Strava Labs you can easily see this represented on a timeline. There are all sorts of changes happening behind the scenes at Strava with the new algorithm timeline—which gets a big downvote from me, not sorry—so I’m sure the leveling out since February is due to something in the backend.

Why do you think that particular ride did as well as it did on Strava?

There are so many hardcore racer types on Strava who go out on #centurysaturday #wattagebazooka sorts of rides that I think sometimes people want to see a super dorky casual AF cruise around town. I always title my rides something interesting and try to snap as many photos as I can so that followers can live vicariously through the bike riding that I do, which is the reason I spend so much time checking out rides that others do. It feels like taking a quick tour of places I’ll likely never go, all these small tastes of foreign cities and fascinating people.

Pokémon, wheelies and beer—excellent combo. So, the important question: What Pokémon did you catch, what beer did you drink, and what bike were you doing wheelies on?

I definitely couldn’t remember what I caught way back in February, hah, but scrolling back through my list I discovered that there is a 15/15/15 Bellsprout still in my collection that I caught that day. As far as beer, my go-to is always Austin Beerworks, as they are a sponsor of Team Super Awesome which is the drinking team with a bike problem that I am a part of. On that particular day I was enjoying a Peacemaker (or three) since it’s a session-able American ale.

Erik Binggeser

The bike I was riding is a Scott Big Ed which I initially purchased with the intention of using it solely for a Florida trip last Christmas but ended up holding on to due to how much I stupidly giggle every time I hop on this thing. The hype is real, fat bikes are fun, everyone should own one.

Tips for Pokémon Go-ing while riding?

I use a small device called a Pokémon Go Plus which tracks steps and has a light-up button to push and catch Pokémon as well as gather items. It allows me to play the game while riding without needing to ride one-handed with eyes on my phone the entire time. It’s absolutely something any trainer should pick up if they want to be the very best like no one ever was.

Erik Binggeser

You have an awesome Instagram and Strava following—any advice for cyclists looking to grow either?

Unless you’re being flown all over the world to take pics at bike events with a never-ending #lightbro golden hour, honestly the best way to grow any sort of social media following is to give what you want to get. I always wave and ring my bell at every single person I see on a bike and I believe that giving kudos on Strava is a similar sort of gesture. Occasionally I will receive comments from confused people overseas asking who am I and how dare I hack their account to give kudos on their commute to work, but far more often I get kudos in return and comments thanking me and direct message or emails from people asking me for tips about gear or what routes are good for their upcoming trip to Austin. We’re all out here riding, or running, swimming, et cetera, because it makes us feel a certain sort of way so spread all the love and support that you can.

I had completely forgotten about this ride until Strava contacted me about it, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As evidenced by the number of kudos on my slow laps of the Capitol, not every ride needs to be some epic brevet on gorgeous coastal roads. As long as people are out riding and enjoying it then I believe that’s all you need.

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